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A Short History
After the Inchon Landing, the momentum in the Korean War in late 1950 was all on the side of the United Nations forces.
American Marine and Army troops were landed on the east coast of Korea and headed northwest
toward the Changjin Reservoir, known to the Americans as the Chosin Reservoir because it was listed that way on the Japanese maps the Americans used.
They advanced with little resistance through the town of
Koto-ri and up to Hagaru-ri, on the southern tip of the huge reservoir. Two American Army Battalions made their way up the east side of the reservoir, while the 5th and 7th Regiments of the First Marine Division
advanced up the west side.
It was known that Chinese troops had reinforced the faltering North Koreans, but their numbers were not known. Gen. MacArthur's advisors wrongly estimated there were as many as 80,000
Chinese and the same number of North Koreans still fighting. In fact, there were 30 divisions of Chinese that had entered North Korea through Manchuria on the north — a total of about 300,000 troops.
Army Maj.
Gen. Edward Almond ordered the combined Army and Marine force ahead. Marine Maj. Gen. Oliver Smith, though, moved cautiously north, much to the dismay of Almond.
The Marines on the road on the west side of the
reservoir had Thanksgiving dinner, not knowing it would be their last hot meal for 17 days.
By late November, the Marine position had reached Yudam-ni, about 14 miles north of Hagaru-ri over a twisting,
mountainous road. One of the most critical parts of the road was over the Toktong Pass, about midway between Yudam-ni and Hagaru-ri.
Fox Company of the Second Battalion, Seventh Regiment of the First Marine
Division was given the job of holding the pass. The company was led by Capt. William Barber, who had served during World War II at Iwo Jima and had been wounded twice. He had only been with the company for a couple
of weeks.
Barber scouted a location for his 218 men, and he picked out a hillside next to the road. He laid out a horseshoe position, with the top of the arc at the crest of the hill. From that position he could
command the road, and the likely enemy advance to the pass.
On Nov. 27, Fox Company arrived as the sun was setting. Barber later said he almost allowed his tired troops to simply get into their down-filled bags
for the night. The temperature was already below zero. At the last moment, though, he reconsidered and ordered them to dig in.
By 9 p.m., they were in place and Barber ordered the campfires extinguished. A
little later a convoy rolled down the road from the north on its way to Hagaru-ri. At midnight a wire team showed up to run a phone line from the position north to Yudam-ni. After that it was silence.
During the
night, the 18,000 or so American troops on both sides of the reservoir were hit by seven Chinese divisions, about 70,000 troops. The battle of the Chosin Reservoir had begun.
Fox Company was alerted by a sentry
at about 4 a.m. that someone was coming down the road. At first they thought it was civilians, but as they came around the bend it became clear that it was Chinese soldiers marching four abreast. Marine machine
gunners took the first action.
For the next several hours, the Americans were besieged by the Chinese troops on all sides. The enemy was able to take the crest of the hill and drive the Marines down, but they
were halted from going any further. There were heavy casualties on both sides and only acts of extreme heroism up and down the line saved the Marine position.
When the dawn came, and the Chinese broke off the
attack, the Americans had 20 killed, 54 wounded and three missing. Many had fought through the 15 below zero temperatures in their stocking feet, unable to get their boots on as the attack began.
Scattered around the hill were 450 Chinese bodies.
Barber had been ordered during the night to advance north to another Marine position three miles up the road, but he asked to hold his ground, knowing he could
not move his wounded and knowing if he lost the pass, there would be no means of retreat for the two regiments up the road.
Later in the day, Barber was ordered to move south to Hagaru-ri, but again he asked to
keep his position. Though the company was decimated by the attack, they took up their positions again as night fell.
Barber told his troops: "We can expect heavy attacks tonight, but we have nothing to worry
about as long as we fight like Marines."
The second night was even colder, with temperatures hitting minus 24 degrees. The Chinese again came in waves, with bugles and whistles blowing, and again the Marines held
their ground. By morning, there were about 200 more bodies in front of the American positions.
Barber was hit by a bullet in his hip, but still hobbled around, making the rounds of each of his positions. Six of
the seven officers had been wounded by this time.
The beleaguered company was dropped ammunition each day, and it received invaluable support from both Marine Corsairs dropping napalm and from artillery batteries
at Hagaru-ri.
A rescue mission was organized by Lt. Col. Ray Davis, who led his First Battalion over the mountainous terrain for two days, trying to get to Fox Hill. Along the way they had to take on several
Chinese units, and sneak past others in the dark.
Davis' heroic mission reached Fox Hill at 11:25 a.m. on Dec. 2. Fox Company had held the hill for five days and nights, and preserved a clear road for the
breakout of the Marines further north.
In all, Fox Company had 26 dead, 89 wounded and three missing. There were at least 1,000 Chinese bodies around the hill, and the Marines in some places had stack the frozen
cadavers around their positions for additional protection.
It was estimated by Barber later that 4,000 Chinese had attacked the hill, and that as many as 2,000 had died in the attacks or from artillery and air
attacks over the five days.
Fox Company joined the evacuation south to Hagaru-ri. At total of about 14,000 Marines and Army troops gathered there before continuing the breakout to the sea over the next few weeks.
Editor's Note: Information for this history was taken from Breakout, The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea, 1950 by Martin Russ and A Short History of the Korean War by James L. Stokesbury, and from
interviews with Marine veterans Bob Watson and Harry Burke.
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